Silencing near tRNA genes requires nucleolar localization

Transcription by RNA polymerase II is antagonized by the presence of a nearby tRNA gene in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. To test hypotheses concerning the mechanism of this tRNA gene-mediated (tgm) silencing, the effects of specific gene deletions were determined. The results show that the mechanism of silencing near tRNA genes is fundamentally different from other forms of transcriptional silencing in yeast. Rather, tgm silencing is dependent on the ability to cluster the dispersed tRNA genes in or near the nucleolus, constituting a form of three-dimensional gene control.